Blair Sets Date to Quit, Papers Say

LONDON —  Prime Minister Tony Blair has told ministers that he plans to leave office in the summer of 2007, according to news reports Sunday.

The Independent reported Sunday that a Cabinet minister, asked whether Blair had said he would go next summer, responded: “I’m not going to tell you exactly what Tony said but I wouldn’t disagree with that.”

The paper quoted another unidentified minister as saying that “almost half the Cabinet” had been given private assurances about a departure date by Blair, whose Labor Party placed third in recent local elections.

Blair’s office refused to comment on the reports Sunday.

The Mail said government sources reported that Blair had told treasury chief Gordon Brown, his likely successor, in February that he would resign in July 2007.